E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi – His Life & Timesthat he will not be prepared to discuss with you measures which thegovernment of India, with the full approval of His Majesty's government, havefound it necessary to adopt in Bengal, the United Provinces and the N.W.F.P.'The British raj would no longer parley with the rebel.Gandhi's rejoinder defended Congress and intimated that he might have to starta civil disobedience campaign. The Viceroy's secretary answered sharply onJanuary 2, 1932. 'His Excellency and the government', he wrote, 'can hardlybelieve that you or the Working Committee (Executive Committee of Congress)contemplate that His Excellency can invite you with the hope of any advantage,to an interview held under the threat of the resumption of civil disobedience...nor can the government of India accept the position implied in you telegramthat its policy should be dependent on the judge of yourself as to the necessityof measures which government has taken...'Willingdon was right. No autocracy can permit a private citizen or organizationto question its acts.Gandhi replied on the same day. He had not threatened; he had expressed anopinion. Moreover, he had negotiated with Irwin, prior to the Delhi Pact, whilecivil disobedience was actually in progress. He never thought the governmenthad to depend on his judgement, 'But I do submit,' Gandhi wired, 'that anypopular and constitutional government would always welcome and considersympathetically suggestions made by public bodies and their representatives...'The government ‘Has banged the door in my face,' Gandhi informed the nationon January 3. The next day, the government banged an iron door in his face: hewas arrested -again, as after the Salt March, under Regulation XXXV of 1827;again he was His Majesty's guest in Yeravda Jail. A few weeks earlier he hadbeen the guest of His and Her Majesty in Buckingham Palace.The government attack on Congress was fierce. Congress organizations wereclosed and almost all leaders imprisoned; in January, 14,800 persons werejailed for political reasons; in February, 17,800. Winston Churchill declaredthat the repressive measures were more drastic than any since the 1857 Mutiny.www.mkgandhi.org Page 339